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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
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Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio at noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Wednesday. Baseball commish Rob Manfred in one hour is the Major League Baseball season obviously started in Tokyo with the Dodgers Cubs, but it starts tomorrow as well League Baseball. The team's operating going forward starting tomorrow and Rob Manfred stops by in Los Angeles. It is the Herd. J. Mack. It was interesting. So, you know, you can, you can add new members. One of my favorite bands of all time was the Eagles. Right, right. Okay. And they, you can, you can add people to the band, but you know, Don Henley had the voice. Like in the end, you can add a lot of bad members. And the warriors can add Jimmy Butler. And Jimmy Butler makes him better. But it is Steph's team and last night was a great example because Jimmy Butler returned to Miami, to the Heat, where he got him to the finals. And he has been great. He has been great. When Butler and Steph play together, warriors are 15 3. But last night's the difference between the two. Steph didn't play, Jimmy did. And the offense dried up. The starters for the warriors at half had 10 total points. And LeBron and Steph are transformational all time players, top 10 players. Luka got traded for a reason. Remember, LeBron left Miami on his terms. Jimmy was traded out of town. Right. So Luka's a great scorer, but the team's not as good defensively as. Because he doesn't share the ball as much. And in the NBA, if I don't touch it, I'm not playing. D on the other end. And Steph between iq, eq, off ball, on ball, scoring culture, building leadership. I love Jimmy Butler, but he's combative. He's a bounce around the league guy. He's a super grinder. He's a more offensively skilled Draymond Green, but steps the entire package. LeBron's the entire package. You can love Keith Richards, it's Mick's band. You can love Butler, it's Steph's band. You can love Luca, it's LeBron's band. And you saw it last night, is that without Steph, this looked like the team pre Butler, nobody could score. The movement's not as good. They're not talking as much. And the Heat in the Mavs, listen, both got to finals, right? The Heat got to the finals, but when they did with Jimmy Butler, Jimmy was overwhelmed. And Luca got to a Finals. But do you remember that finals? He was out of shape. He was gassed. LeBron James with Matthew Della Badova can lose the finals. He's not out of shape, he's not gassed. He just doesn't have enough combatants on his side. So it's, it's. I can, I can absolutely love Jimmy Butler. And you can add players to teams, even like B plus, A minus guys, I've said this. Everybody's got this, hey, Luka guarantees this. Luka gets worked on the defensive end. We talked about this with Rick Bucher yesterday. When LeBron sat out and he didn't play with Luka, they not only lost, they were getting boat raced by bad teams because Luka sort of reverts back to who Luka is and why it wasn't always great chemistry with the Mavericks. Guys are sitting around watching, they don't touch the ball. And this was Bucher yesterday Talking about the LeBron, Luka Dynamic. When LeBron stepped out, it became the Luka show and it looked like Dallas. And the reason that you had everybody defending as hard as they were, because they were touching the ball. They knew that if they ran the floor, the ball is going to be passed ahead and I might get a fast break layup. And that doesn't happen much when LeBron's out. So here it's interesting. I had said this. I gave baseball about 15 years off. I didn't talk much about it. The game got really slow. There was no urgency. The emergence of the iPhone, people are distracted. And the stars were not in the right places. Ohtani was down with the Angels, who feel, you know, invisible here in LA county, which neighbors Orange County. And then Bryce Harper goes to the Gnats and Aaron Judge becomes a star and Ohtani is now a Dodger. And all of a sudden you look up and baseball speeds the game up. The defensive shift is eliminated, the bases are bigger, there's more base runners, more stolen bases. And baseball the last two years ratings up, attendance up. So Rob Manfred, as a commissioner of baseball, on in one hour, he's always got a battle. The purists. Baseball is like half amusement park, half museum. And the museum crowd, the old school people, they're grumpy. The sky is falling with any change. So yesterday was a great example of that. So Jeff Passon was on, he's very popular baseball writer for the Other Place. He was on a podcast and he said, you know, baseball is in an incredible place right now. They cannot have a work stoppage and all the seam heads come out of the woodwork. Nobody can compete. Oh, good Lord. The minute the Dodgers Yankees make a World Series, the sky is falling crowd. Nobody can compete. We need a salary cap. Baseball's never going to have a salary cap. Union's too strong. And do you know, nobody is repeated in baseball. To win the world series since 2000, that is the longest streak of any pro league in America and the longest streak in baseball history. In fact, last year I looked it up. This morning, the Guardians, Orioles, Royals, Tigers and Brewers all made the playoffs. In fact, Detroit won a playoff series. They're all in the bottom half of the league in payroll. The leagues never had more parity. Never. But speed up the game of the pitch clock. The purists didn't like it. The change in extra innings, the larger bases. Good God. They suggested the golden at bat. Used once a game where a star can bat out of order. People freaked out. Baseball's in an incredibly, incredibly healthy place. But no sport has more ninnies and whiners than baseball. I looked it up this morning. So you had last year you had six guys sign a hundred plus million dollar contract. Six guys. They must have been all Dodgers. Nope. One was a Yankee, one was a Dodger, one was a Diamondback, one was a Met, one was a Red Sox, one was San Francisco. Six different places they haven't had a repeat champ. But the minute the Dodgers and the Yankees get in, the sky is falling. The purists are outraged. You have parody all over the sport now. I will say this Dodger team is insane. But we've all had somebody in our social circle. Hopefully you've eliminated them. Where, you know, you go up and say, man, what a beautiful day. And they say, well, it could rain tomorrow. That is baseball purist. The sports great. There's all sorts of bottom payroll team. I mean, in the NBA you have eight teams that feel like perpetually. The Wizards, they're just not watchable. They had John Wall and they weren't watchable. They can't compete. They had Beale and Wall in their prime. They can't compete in the East. So I mean, yeah, the A's situation's ugly. But the NFL several years ago had the Raiders change where they were playing. The Chargers moved, St. Louis moved out to LA. There was a real bumpy two year stretch in the NFL where like franchises were moving all over the country. Yes, the A situation's a mess, but this idea, it is just, you know, look, I gave baseball 15 years off. The first eight years here and the last eight at the other place. I just didn't talk it much last year and a half. Baseball's been unbelievable. All the stars in the right place. The game is faster, more baserunners, more stolen bases, more activity. In fact, one of my questions now is I think there's parity in baseball. The place where you lack parity is pitcher and hitter. Not enough teams can hit 265 to 270 as a team because the mound, pitchers are bigger, stronger faster, throwing 100 miles an hour. And batters, even good ones, can be overwhelmed in this sport. That's where you lack parity. The pitchers against the hitters, the sports fine. And as I've said, who pays 40% of baseball's bills? TV networks, they don't care about parity. They want six really good teams, preferably in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, L.A. and Philadelphia and maybe Houston. That's where they want the good teams and that's where they are right now. So. J. Mac, we got a lot of stuff. You know, it's, it's interesting. People are pins and needles on what Aaron Rodgers is going to do. And, and, and I've said he's a slightly better version of Russell Wilson. So Russell Wilson signed with the Giants yesterday and it landed with an absolute nothing burger.
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J. Mac
Wow.
- [11:43]
Colin Cowherd
I, I don't think I, I, that is a third to fourth place team, right? Well, certainly. But is it possible that the Giants got wind that, hey, Shad to be there with three guys. He's not, he's going to be gone. You better grab a quarterback before you get nothing. Right. What if Russell Wilson went to, I.
- [11:59]
J. Mac
Don'T know, another team?
- [12:01]
Colin Cowherd
Then they would have no quarterback at all. So I think some draft stuff leaked out and that's why the Patriots went and got digs. Is Travis Hunter going to be there at 4? Colin? I, I don't know. Yeah. So the Patriots probably heard Travis Hunter is gone at 4 because the Giants are going to have to select him because the Browns are taking a quarterback. Yeah. So, you know, there, there's nobody can keep a secret. I mean, let's be honest. In the NFL, you get close to the draft, you got, you got scouts that have worked for multiple teams. You got people who have been fired. Right. Like, so you can't keep secrets anywhere. If you want to keep a secret, don't say anything to anybody. So I think what happened yesterday is a bit of a domino. The Giants find out. Cleveland's taking a quarterback. The Patriots find out. Oh, we better than sign Stefan Diggs because we're not getting Travis Hunter. Right. That's probably what's happening. And neighbors and Travis Hunter is kind of spicy on the outside for the New York Giants. They got a quarterback who just throws deep balls. That's all Russ does. He doesn't want to go over the middle. He just wants to throw the, the go routes to Pickens and Pittsburgh, remember? And it worked. Now you get neighbors and Hunter. That's moderately interesting with Brian Dable as your head coach. All right. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. All you runners out there, here's something from Rocket Mortgage you're gonna want to hear now. Anyone who has ever rented before knows that feeling you get every month. Your hard earned cash gone. It's like throwing money away. Even more frustrating is the knowledge that every dollar you spent on rent is a dollar you could have put towards your future. It can make it feel like you'll never be able to save enough to afford a home of your own. And that's what makes what Rocket Mortgage is doing so special. Rocket Mortgage is now helping you put your monthly rent payments towards home ownership. It's called Rent Rewards and for the first time, you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. If this sounds like something that could make a difference in your life, call 804Rocket or visit Rocket.com learn more about rent rewards that's 800 for Rocket or Rocket.com Rocket Mortgage LLC. Equal housing lender licensed in all 50 states. NMLS consumeraccess.org Number 3030 Count your way into a perfect night with Amex Gold. One restaurant, two friends, three amazing dishes and four times membership rewards points on purchases at restaurants and U S Supermarkets. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Capitalize. Learn more@americanexpress.com Amex you can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities big to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Jonas this is Jonas Knox from two Pros and a Cup of Joan. Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner working on a remodel or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where great ideas become stunning spaces. It's designed for the way you want to shop. Explore the best selection of kitchen, bath and lighting products online or visit a local Ferguson Home showroom and get one on one support from an expert consultant. Go to FergusonHome.com to shop the latest styles from top Brands like Kohler or find a shoe showroom location near you. Welcome back, Rob man for Baseball Commish at the top of next hour. So Russell Wilson signed yesterday with the Giants. He's had some success in MetLife as a Seahawk and Jameis Winston had just signed with the Giants. And you know, what are they doing here? It's kind of a Donald Trump thing. Flood the zone, see if anything sticks. My takeaway is what J. Mac and I talked about earlier. It does appear Cleveland, and I think this is a good fit, is going to take Shador Sanders. So Cam Ward's going to go number one, Shador Sanders, Cleveland's going to go number two. The Giants got wind of it and they signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and they're probably in the Travis Hunter, who's the best pure athlete in the draft ballpark. And I was thinking about this this morning, the Giants have really become the Cleveland Browns, where I'm dead serious. Where I like the offensive head coach Stefanski, won 11 games, rotated four quarterbacks and got to the playoffs. That's all I've ever needed to see. He's a good coach. Brian Dabo won a playoff game with with Daniel Jones. That's all I need to know. The rest of the organizations are trouble. I like the coach. They've got some good defensive players and they are a sideshow at quarterback. The difference is this morning Cleveland's going to get Shador Sanders. The Giants are stuck with Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. So Cleveland is now a better version of the Giants. The last time Cleveland was legitimate and stable at quarterback was Bernie Kozar, mid-80s, won five straight. We got five straight playoff appearances. Total stability, never been stable since the last time the Giants were stable. Eli Manning wins two Super Bowls in a five year period. It's been a mess. And if you look at Cleveland, it's been impulsive reactions from the owner. And if you look at the Giants, they've had patience. They're not Cleveland. They've had patience. They've just made horrible decisions. Joe Judge, Dave Gettleman, Daniel Jones, then the extension letting Saquon go. So there's a lot of different ways to get bad Cleveland. It's mostly been an ownership thing. The Giants owner has not helped. It's been a bad GM thing. Joe Shane, Dave Gettleman just to me are. They're not elite guys. And so. But the difference is this morning is Cleveland's going to get a quarterback who's a pocket guy. Shador Sanders, who I like more than the critics remember about a month ago when some of these mock draft guys were saying, hey, Shador may fall to the second round. J. Mac first, me following up said, you're out of your mind. These guys are nice quarterback prospects. Far less talented quarterbacks have gone in the top five than Shador Sanders and Cam Moore. Cam Ward's going one. What this says today, signing Russell Wilson is the Browns are taking Shador Sanders and Stefanski is a very good pocket quarterback. Very good with Flacco, very good with Baker. That's what he does. Guys that sit in the pocket and throw. That's why desean Watson's been iffy. Desean doesn't throw great from the pocket. He moves a lot and he's not the athlete he once was. So you think I'm, you know, listen, the Giants have the worst record in the league since 2017. So when I say they're the Cleveland Browns, they're worse. And they have the fewest touchdown passes in the NFL since Eli Manning retired. But the difference is the Browns this morning are going to get their future quarterback, and the Giants are stuck with two guys past their prime. And, and by the way, you couldn't get two more unique guys. I mean, here is goofy, weird, funny, authentic Jameis Winston and then sort of stoic, corporate, some would say inauthentic Russell Wilson. It's a weird combination. But this morning, when I say the Giants of the Cleveland Browns, you snicker. The Browns are actually in the next month in better shape. They've got the best total player, Miles Garrett. They may have a better coach, Kevin Stefanski, and they've got their future quarterback, which they don't have to pay a fortune for for the next four years. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. Hey, Steve Covino. And I'm Rich Davis, and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5.
- [19:34]
J. Mac
To 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific.
- [19:36]
Colin Cowherd
On Fox Sports Radio. And, of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything. Life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls. Chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich Live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the.
- [20:16]
J. Mac
Live show, just search Covino and Rich.
- [20:18]
Colin Cowherd
Wherever you get your podcast. And of course on social media, that's Covino and Rich. All you renters out there, here's something from Rocket Mortgage you're going to want to hear now. Anyone who has ever rented before knows that feeling you get every month. Your hard earned cash gone. It's like throwing money away. Even more frustrating is the knowledge that every dollar you spent on rent is a dollar you could have put towards your future. It can make it feel like you'll never be able to save enough to afford a home of your own. And that's what makes what Rocket Mortgage is doing so special. Rocket Mortgage is now helping you put your monthly rent payments towards home ownership. It's called Rent Rewards and for the first time you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. If this sounds like something that could make a difference in your life, call 804Rocket or visit Rocket.com learn more about rent rewards that's 804Rocket or Rocket.com Rocket Mortgage LLC equal housing lender licensed in all 50 states NMLS consumeraccess.org number 3030 with Amex, there's always a new experience to explore. From curating the perfect vacation and chilling in the Centurion Lounge before you get there trying out that new trendy restaurant thanks to priority notify with global dining access by Resy and getting straight to the action at the big game with card member entrances at select venues with AMEX Platinum you can experience it all. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Access to the card Member entrance not limited to the American Express Platinum card. Learn more@american express.com with AmEx you can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required Card has no cash access and expires in six months. This podcast is brought to you by Pfizer. Let's talk health. You may not know about pneumococcal disease, but if you're 50 or older or 19 or older with certain medical conditions like diabetes, you're at risk. And it could turn your plans, big or small, into a hospital visit. So get vaccinated. It's one action you can take to help protect against pneumococcal pneumonia, an invasive pneumococcal disease. Keep enjoying everything you're looking forward to, even if it's just a podcast. Schedule a shot@vaxassist.com I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but I It was funny. I was reading some politics yesterday. There was no Outside of the Miami Heat Warrior game, there wasn't a lot of games I wanted to watch. So I watched a live listened to three or four podcasts. I listened to an LA Times Patty Hearst podcast. I was listening to podcasts all day yesterday and watching shows and I and I was sitting there thinking, you know, there used to be a term that was used a lot. It's not used much anymore in sports. Hot take politics. The hot takes are insane. There's 40 a day. I mean everybody exaggerates everything. It's like folks, go look up the Patty her story, the Pentagon Papers. You have no idea what was happening in this country in the 60s and the 70s and the radicals like take a deep breath and so like today's show. And maybe that got me in the mood watching all the hot takes in politics. But when I saw people attacking Jeff Passon for saying baseball's in a great space, do just Google who made the playoffs last year. It was like a bunch of low payroll teams. You haven't had a World Series repeat champs. It's like 22,000 or 2020 or whenever it was. It's like forever longer than any other sport. The Patriots and Chiefs have overwhelmingly dominated the last 25 years in the NFL. Nobody in baseball has. Nobody. And so the other thing I've been pushing back on is this hot take that I saw this headline yesterday. The Nil and the transfer portal are sucking the madness out of March again. TV ratings illustrate that. We're not watching for madness. We're watching for Duke. We're watching for favorites. Memories. We know this that lawyers can poke holes in eyewitness testimony because memories fade and change over time. It's called partial recall. You remember something 20 years ago, but your brain fills in the rest and that's why good attorneys will poke hole in eyewitnesses. And you start talking, talking yourself into circles and misremembering stuff and you know, you talk about all this mad madness and all these upsets. I'll give you an example. The three biggest memories for most people watching college basketball. Number one is the Christian Laitner shot. He played for Duke. They beat Kentucky. No, Cinderella. In that moment, two massive brands. That's the most memorable shot in my opinion in the history of the tournament. Second, you could argue second is young Michael Jordan hitting the basket against Georgetown. UNC against the Hoyas. No Cinderella. John Thompson and Dean Smith, two huge brands. Now we can go back to the Volvano play, but I would say Chris Jenkins of Villanova, a number two or three seed, beating North Carolina, a number one seed. Those are three semi recent memories of college basketball. You name me remember a couple years ago. My point is, there's so much mythology about Cinderella. Never forget Cinderella. That was a, that was a moment. But she was a house cleaner for the other 360 days a year. Okay, right. You've made Cinderella into oh my God, that was a night. That was a ball. That's it. Right, that's that, that wasn't the profession. And my takeaway is it's all mythology is that remember a few years ago there was an upset. What was the upset we had? Oh yeah. UMBC, the number 16 seed, beat number one, Virginia. Do you remember the next game for UMBC? Oh, you don't either because that was the greatest Cinderella and you forgot what they did in the next game. So this, this whole March madness is done. We don't watch for the madness. We watch for big brands. That's why this, this weekend is going to be great. Because one of your upsets was John Calipari beating Rick Martino. And that's about the best upset you could have. Calipari winning as a polarizing head coach. This is just more mythology. And that's like people, a lot of people say they're going to work out, they're going to go on a diet and instead they go on Ozempic. They don't go to the gym and they don't eat right. They don't eat at all. They use Ozempic and you're not watching for these small brands. You can't name two players on VCU with Shaka Smart or George Mason. Unless you're a college basketball coach, you don't remember it. So the Nil helps college basketball. It keeps stars in for another year. Some guys will say a lot of these college basketball programs can pay a million dollars for a great player. They step up. Or I can make $300,000 in the G League. I'd rather play in the Big Ten and rather play at Duke, Carolina, Michigan State, Michigan. I'd rather play there. So that's where it helps. And it also cherry picks mid major guys, which nobody watches anyway. So again, take a deep breath. We're watching. We're watching for March and brands, not the madness. And if you want to talk madness, it's late in our hitting the shot over Kentucky. That was nuts. I watched that live. That was crazy. Duke against Kentucky. I'm sure you saw the ratings, Colin, or 30 plus year high. So they had to go back to 1993 when the ratings were this high for the first two rounds. Do you want to guess who was playing in 1993? The Fab Five. Okay, there you go. When they went up against UNC, historically great team, hugely popular, culturally relevant, that's when the ratings were massive. Okay. I mean, in my life, the most popular college basketball teams have been the Laitner Duke team, the Patrick Ewing Georgetown team, the Jordan Worthy Carolina teams, unlv, UNLV with Tark, which I could. Larry Johnson's day. And that was, by the way, it may have been a. Vegas was an emerging city, but that was a big brand. Those are the Most popular Fab 5 have to be close to. And I'll argue this forever, there is this total false narrative that Villanova beating Georgetown when they were both in the Big east was shocking. I. I did the Rolly Massimino show years later. He said we matched up great with Georgetown. We got annihilated twice against Chris Mullen, Mark Jackson and St. John's our staff was like we were hoping. We had Ed Pinkney, they had Ewing. Pinkney could defend. He goes. We loved our chances against Georgetown. We could play him anywhere we matched up. So that was seen as a massive upset. If you remember back then, you could slow the game down. Yeah. You didn't have to shoot. Yeah. And so, but, but it's. It's like baseball's got parody. Take a deep breath. It's fine. And March Madness. The ratings are telling you people are into everywhere I went this past weekend. I was in Chicago this past. Everywhere you went, the games were on everywhere. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9:00am Pacific. Well, we haven't had Julian Edelman on in a long time. He's got his Own. He's on the Fox NFL Kickoff. And we just got out of free agency. We're moving into the draft. I don't think it's a particularly strong draft. I do want to ask you about free agency. So there were some rumors recently about Aaron Rodgers in Minnesota. And I thought to myself, I would wait if I was Aaron for Minnesota. Great coach indoors, know the division. Justin Jefferson and Minnesota. They brought in Darnold, Daniel Jones, but they wouldn't bring in Aaron even for a year. Do you agree with that?
- [30:59]
J. Mac
I do agree with that.
- [31:01]
Colin Cowherd
Can I hear his mic? There we go. Go ahead.
- [31:03]
J. Mac
You there? Yeah, I do agree with that. Just for this, the simple situation. Look, let's, let's, let's rewind. Back when Aaron Rodgers was a young, spry quarterback, there was a quarterback in his room that was playing the antics that Aaron Rodgers is literally playing now. And Aaron picked up a lot of the habits of Brett Favre. Let's not, let's not joke around about it. He's doing the same things that Brett Favre did at the end of his career. That doesn't happen by accident. So you have a Young quarterback in J.J. mcCarthy with the Vikings, with a quarterback genius coach in Kevin O'Connell, and you just want to throw in Aaron Rodgers, who, you know, week eight last year on was great because he started to get that chemistry that he doesn't get in the off season, because he doesn't do the off season, but he started to get that. But you're also getting all the other noise that you're going to have with Aaron Rodgers, which is a lot of distraction. And do you really want to go into this locker room, Minnesota, that went to the NFC Championship or had a, went to the divisional round last year and really put something in there that could mess with the feng shui of what that locker room is. They're clearly very confident in McCarthy. They let Sam Darnold walk out the door. We were talking about him being the MVP till week 14 last year, which is crazy. So they have a confidence. They know what they want. I like that they didn't name him the starter because now he gets to go on and earn it. And you can't just put in this whole process, this plan that you're preach into the team and then name a kid who's never even played it down in the National Football League the starting quarterback after Sam Donald leaves. So I do agree. I just went on 20 different tangents. I do agree that they didn't, with them not bringing in Aaron Rodgers you.
- [32:55]
Colin Cowherd
Know, people have said about Aaron, like Pittsburgh fans are saying, well, he doesn't fit our culture. And my take is he's not really a football culture guy. Years ago in 2020, a story came out where Green Bay told Aaron, don't be the problem. Since that article. Yeah, this would be his third team in four or five years. And so I think Aaron has sent a very clear message. I am unapologetically independent. I am what I am. If you sign me, I'm gonna want a couple of buddies on the team. I'm okay with you as long as you don't fool me. Whatever you like. Like Gronks, like, I'll go to Tampa because I like the warm weather and I'm. I don't like the cold weather. So, like, he told everybody, cold weather teams, not interested. So to me, you have to have a strong culture or Aaron can kind of hijack it like the Jets. Like, I think he could go right now to a Detroit or to a San Francisco.
- [33:55]
J. Mac
Yeah.
- [33:56]
Colin Cowherd
But like, for instance, there were a couple signings the Patriots made. Albert Hainsworth.
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J. Mac
Yeah.
- [34:01]
Colin Cowherd
Randy Moss. I don't think Aaron fits a lot of cultures.
- [34:07]
J. Mac
I, I agree. But I do think he fits the Steelers culture because I believe in Mike Tomlin and the professional that he is as a head coach and how he communicates with players that he can make it work with Aaron Rodgers. Like, we didn't hear anything about Antonio Brown until he left the Steelers.
- [34:25]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [34:25]
J. Mac
That is a magic power by Mike Tomlin who kept all that noise in, in the building. So if, if there's any place for Aaron Rodgers to probably be okay with how he handles football, I think Mike Tomlin would be a great guy for that.
- [34:41]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. So when, when you look at the free agency, I'll tell you a move I didn't love. I don't love Stefan Diggs to the Patriots for that number. Buffalo got better when he left. He was a three in Houston and they just paid him number one money. And my take is the culture isn't set yet and he can be a little noisy. Like in Houston, which is a city that like, like, accepts noise. He could be a bit noisy.
- [35:09]
J. Mac
Yeah.
- [35:09]
Colin Cowherd
And I don't love it. Again, Drake May is growing. He's not established. We surmised earlier today is they made that move because Cleveland's going to take Shador and then the Giants are going to take Travis Hunter. And Mike knows I got fired when I lost A.J. brown. We don't have any receivers.
- [35:32]
J. Mac
Yeah.
- [35:32]
Colin Cowherd
That they're. They're Looking at the draft and thinking we're not going to get Travis Hunter. Is it possible that's what they're doing?
- [35:38]
J. Mac
That could be possible, but you know, they need to upgrade the receiver room. And what you do get with Stefan Diggs is you get a professional. You ask anyone around town, anyone around the league. The guy works hard, he knows how to run every route and he's a professional when he's in the building. Yes, there's antics, but number two, I like Mike Rabel dealing with those antics because he dealt with A.J. brown. He knows how to deal with a big time receiver. We didn't hear anything out of A.J. brown. He's a very like alpha type of guy that's played in, in the league that can communicate with these guys. And then number three, he's pissed off at the Bills still. Like, why wouldn't you want a little fire in a room, the receiver room for New England that hasn't performed in years. Why wouldn't you want a little fire in there? That's what Steph Dawn Diggs is going to bring. He's going to bring some urgency, which that room needs. He's going to bring some motivation. Yes, there's going to be some other stuff, but I trust that Mike Vrabel will take care of that. Yes, he's got a young quarterback in Drake May, but we saw last year how Stephon Diggs was with Stroud. He was a different guy than he was with Allen. He understood, he matured a little bit over the year. He evolved his game and his attitude. And I expect him to do the same thing in here. And if you look at the money, what's it, a three year deal, 36 million guarantee, that's a two year or 37, that's two year, $15 million deal. Guys are making $40 million now a year, so that's not a big deal. That's where he's probably slated for the receiver he is in his career, when.
- [37:11]
Colin Cowherd
You were with the Patriots and the Patriots missed on a lot of receivers and so they, after Chad Jackson, they sort of stopped, you know, until Nikhil Harry, they didn't draft a lot of first round guys. How long would it take you when you're with a good football team, New England, to realize, oh, that draft pick can play and that guy can't? Every team has busts, every single team. The great GMs have whiffed. Bill Poe and Weft. Were there times after the draft, first camp, you're like, don't think that guy's Going to make it?
- [37:41]
J. Mac
Yeah, plenty of times.
- [37:42]
Colin Cowherd
Wow.
- [37:43]
J. Mac
You know, if you're a first round guy, you got a, you got a superpower of some sort.
- [37:47]
Colin Cowherd
Right? Right.
- [37:48]
J. Mac
So you want to see that superpower. And yes, you're in diapers with, you know, shells and off, off season workouts. But there, there's always something that you can see, an explosive movement, a guy body up a guy for the ball and steal it like he's a little kid or the speed of some guy. You see that first round talent like where something is if he's going to be able to help right away.
- [38:12]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. So I'm a fan of Shador Sanders and one of the reasons I'm a fan is he had a terrible O line in college. He trailed in all the games, he had no run game and he completed 74% of his throws. So you played with arguably the most accurate, consistently accurate quarterback, certainly the best bad weather thrower I've ever seen in Brady. And my thing is some guys are accurate and some guys aren't. And like Cam was never going to complete 68%. Anthony Richardson's not that accurate. Like I watched the door and I'm like, bro is running for his life trailing. So everybody knows he's throwing 74%. Like I don't believe you can go from inaccurate to really accurate. And so now you can go from inaccurate to 61%. But in all your years, of all the backups, wasn't Garoppolo accurate early?
- [39:09]
J. Mac
Yeah, he was very accurate.
- [39:11]
Colin Cowherd
The thing was, you quarterbacked.
- [39:14]
J. Mac
Yeah, I wasn't accurate. I was about with a receiver. With Shador, for me, it's not the accuracy. And you look at all the stats, he was sacked the most the last two years, his career in college, he's been sacked the most. Set a few records on that. Which, you know, a lot of the times, yes, it's the offensive line's fault, but it's also, you know, it's, it could be the quarterback's fault. So a lot, some of those can be on him. My number one thing with Shador is can he break down the protections? He's, he's not a mobile guy. He's. He's a pocket passer. We all keep on saying he's a pocket passer. So for me, if I'm a general manager, if I'm a team, I want to see how good he is with his protections because there's going to be a day where your, your left tackle can't, he's not going to be able to Block the guy across from him. So you're going to have to slide the protection. You're going to have to get the ball out quicker. You're going to have to adjust your game. So him being able to adjust his game over these last couple years because of all the pressure, that could help him, but it also could hurt him because now he holds on to the ball too long, it's ultimately going to come down to the offensive coordinator he gets paired up with and that relationship and how he handles protections.
- [40:28]
Colin Cowherd
Brock Purdy is trying to get a massive deal and the Niners have publicly stated, we're not handing out cash like we used to. In your years in the NFL, if a guy signs a deal and doesn't get what he wants, is there resentment?
- [40:46]
J. Mac
I may have resented Bill every day in contract I signed.
- [40:49]
Colin Cowherd
Really?
- [40:51]
J. Mac
I mean, no, that usually a deal, usually they find a place where both ends are happy.
- [41:02]
Colin Cowherd
You were generally. You found a place.
- [41:03]
J. Mac
I found a place. I, I understood I wasn't gonna, you know, for me personally, I always took team friendly ish deals because I understood what I was a part of. I understood that I'd have my most success in New England because we were winning. I understood that, you know, if I go to another team and that coaching staff gets fired and you're in the middle of nowhere and you ain't making no money off the field, like I understood all that when I was signing with New England. I think that's a huge part of the evaluation process for the player and the situation. A lot of the times guys, you know, want the biggest dollar. But you know, for instance, you look at like Darnold, he goes and he signs with Seattle. I wonder what was the number that Minnesota signed him for? Because he's basically playing a one year deal with a team that he doesn't know and he's going to try to hit free agency again.
- [42:00]
Colin Cowherd
And a defensive coach, and a defensive.
- [42:02]
J. Mac
Coach, I would have took probably 6, 7 million dollars less to have my one year deal with Justin Jefferson and Addison and a coach that knows how to call plays. For me, if I'm going to try to hit it again, even if I wasn't going to be the guy this year, you know, that's kind of what you're evaluating as a player. It's not just the most money. If that's your goal. There's other ways to make the money. It's not always about doing on the field. So doing it through your winning, through the community of where you're at. And those are all part of that evaluation process for the players. So you know that, that's the real thing. What was that number that Sam Darnold or the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Darnold didn't get?
- [42:41]
Colin Cowherd
I think most of the smart athletes get. Winning trumps everything, because when your career ends, you'll get more deals. And the deals now on social media alone, without a doubt, seven figure deals.
- [42:53]
J. Mac
Without a doubt.
- [42:54]
Colin Cowherd
Casting deals.
- [42:55]
J. Mac
Without a doubt. So I, I think players should really take a look at that when they're, when they're looking at if, if their number one goal is money. Okay? You got to look at everything because when you win and you're a champion, you make that money forever. You know, you may not make the money up front like you're making when you're, you know, at a team that's 4 and 13 and, and you guys don't make the playoffs, but you're the highest paid guy in the league. You know, that's. If that's your goal, that's your goal. But you could also make money the other way.
- [43:27]
Colin Cowherd
Finally, I thought it was interesting. Tom Brady was quoted. Tom came out with it. This isn't speculation. He said, eventually, you know, I, I took a piece of paper and a pen and I wrote down things that mattered to me between Tampa and New England. And he acknowledges they had really good receivers. That was really important. He's like, you know, also, the coach was offensive. The weather was better. I didn't want to play in cold weather. And he acknowledged, he goes, we reached a point where tension, it was inevitable. I had to leave. And I'll say this now, and I'll ask this, because it's out there. Tom's acknowledging the tension. Do you remember the first time, the first time I knew Tom was leaving is when he screamed at the wide receivers, get open. And it was on television. I thought, okay. I'm seeing publicly frustrated Tom with his personnel. That's why I wasn't shocked when he went to Tampa. And he also liked the Chargers that had Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. He wanted receivers as you left. Like, it was like, okay, Gronk aged. Do you remember the first time you thought Tom's cranky to Davis or Bill treated him away and you just, you didn't like it.
- [44:39]
J. Mac
You know, Bill was, Bill was tough on everyone. And I don't know if I had my blinders on and I thought everyone was on the same table. I may have, you know, so if he got into Tom, he got into Tom. If he got into Vince, he got into Vince, if he got into Ninkovich, he got into Ninkovich, he got into Slater, got into Slater. But when it was Tom, it was different. And. And the thing is, you, Tom, he had a really good poker face. Even when you could tell when he had his feelings hurt or he was maybe a little frustrated with certain things, he didn't let it affect him. And that's why he's an ultra leader, and that's why he's the greatest leader of all time. You know what I mean? Because we. We all kind of knew what was going on. He felt the tension, but you didn't see it from Tom. He didn't show nobody.
- [45:33]
Colin Cowherd
He didn't let it seep in.
- [45:34]
J. Mac
He didn't let it seep in. He went to work. He was the same guy every day. He like, yes. Emotions in the game. When he says, oh, get open, guys, that's gonna happen, that's a mo. It's an emotional game. You're in the heat of battle, but, like, you didn't really see any kind of frustration from Tom, and that's because he always had a really. I knew personally there were certain things, but, you know, he never let everyone know. And. And that's. That's what a good leader looks like.
- [46:02]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. Games with Names New episode every Tuesday. Puka Naku is on yours.
- [46:09]
J. Mac
Puka Naku is on my.
- [46:10]
Colin Cowherd
You got to tell him, stop talking about retirement.
- [46:12]
J. Mac
I know. I agree. You can't.
- [46:15]
Colin Cowherd
I don't like it.
- [46:15]
J. Mac
I don't either. There's, you know, I agree with you on that. I think he's just being. He was a little young, got a little excited in front of the microphone, you know, I'm telling you, sometimes you get comfortable in a setting and you start talking and you don't understand what you're saying, but you definitely don't want to tell an organization that you. You don't want to cap your career.
- [46:36]
Colin Cowherd
Because, you know, GMs don't care about work, life balance.
- [46:39]
J. Mac
No, they don't. They don't. They care about. This is a production business. That's what they say this is. And if he goes out, he balls and does it, it's fine. But still, you just gotta.
- [46:49]
Colin Cowherd
Loose leaps.
- [46:50]
J. Mac
Loose lips sink ships, bro.
- [46:51]
Colin Cowherd
And careers.
- [46:52]
J. Mac
And careers.
- [46:53]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, but he'll be all right.
- [46:54]
J. Mac
He'll be all right.
- [46:55]
Colin Cowherd
He'll be all right. Julian Edelman. Thanks, buddy. Good seeing you live in la. It's the Hurt. This is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser podcast. Have you guys seen this new commercial? From Stand up to All Hate. It's basically Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady going back and forth with reasons that they hate each other. But then when you really listen to them, the reasons for the hate are just so stupid. I don't know.
- [47:14]
J. Mac
This.
- [47:15]
Colin Cowherd
This commercial really got me. It's a strong reminder that hate in our country continues to be out of control. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up. Call it out. Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. You can learn more by following OTs upwithhate. Okay, so we all need to get away from the world sometimes. Well, in the all new 2025 Nissan Murano, you don't even have to go anywhere. The Murano is the getaway. Just picture it. The Bose premium sound system plays your favorite music as the Murano's massaging leather appointed seats melt away your stress. Yeah, that's a real getaway. Drive the all new 2025 Nissan Murano today. Bows and massaging leather appointed seats are optional features. We live in a divided country and.
- [47:59]
J. Mac
Our media couldn't be more polarizing.
- [48:01]
Colin Cowherd
That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson.
- [48:04]
J. Mac
It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans.
- [48:12]
Colin Cowherd
From all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle.
- [48:14]
J. Mac
You also get an episode each week.
- [48:16]
Colin Cowherd
Called One Thing Trump did that focuses.
- [48:18]
J. Mac
On on just one item from the avalanche of news.
- [48:21]
Colin Cowherd
Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [48:28]
J. Mac
What's up everyone?
- [48:29]
Colin Cowherd
Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson. We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go. The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [48:43]
J. Mac
Big.
- [48:44]
Colin Cowherd
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us. Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.